Despite this, Mr Callen said Mateen was a “nice guy”.
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At least four regular customers at the Orlando gay nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people said Monday that they had seen the killer, Omar Mateen, there before.
And a former police-academy classmate of Mateen’s said he believed Mateen was gay and had asked him out on a date.
Smith said people in the club didn’t speak to Mateen much, but that he had talked about his family and ex-wife.
“We went to a few gay bars with him, and I was not out at the time, so I declined his offer”, the man said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
On MSNBC’s Chris Hayes show tonight: “Cord Cedeno, who frequents Pulse nightclub and lost friends there, recognized the gunman from his photos as someone who had messaged him on a gay dating app”.
The murky picture of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen grew more complex Tuesday with word that the FBI is investigating whether he had been a regular at the gay dance club he attacked and had been leading a secret life as a gay man.
Mateen had worked as a security guard at this upscale gated community in Florida and his ex-wife says he aspired to be a police officer.
“He walked directly past me”, West said.
“I don’t know what caused this”, he said.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told reporters that the massacre was “the act of a terrorist”, and added: “I apologize for what my son did”.
“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent”, Ty Smith told the Sentinel, referring to slain shooter Omar Mateen, 29. “I’m going to see him again”.
“We can confirm the gunman was employed at one of our franchise operators more than 10 years ago and was terminated after brief employment after failing to meet performance standards”, an employee at the fast food joint told Radar. “People reached out to him, they looked up to him, looked at him for guidance”, said Jason Howell.
Also, the Saudi Arabian government said Monday that Mateen had traveled there twice, in 2011 and 2012, as part of a Muslim pilgrimage – spending a little more than a week on each occasion, The New York Times reported. His ex-wife said he suffered from mental illness.
Counterterrorism experts have been warning in the past few years about the danger of so-called lone wolf attackers who act in sympathy with extremist groups like the Islamic State but are not directed by them. “If someone seriously thinks we don’t know who we’re fighting, if there’s anyone out there who thinks we’re confused about who our enemies are”, Obama said, “that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists we’ve taken off the battlefield”.
Co-workers reported him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013 after he had made “inflammatory and contradictory” statements, including a claim that he had family connections to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah but investigators found no evidence of a link.
President Barack Obama said Mateen was likely a homegrown extremist.
Police reported Sunday that prior to the shooting, Mateen called 911 and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group – also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL.
“But it’s wonderful to see a real community come together”.
“He was mentally unstable and mentally ill, that’s the only explanation I can give”.
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“I was a hot mess”, he said.
